Apple's Notebook Sales Drop to Estimated 2.5M as Buyers Await New MacBook Pro

by

Apple reported its first negative-growth quarter since 2003 last month as iPhone, iPad, and Mac sales all declined compared to the year-ago period, and new data shows that notebook sales unsurprisingly fared no better when broken out.

rmbp
MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro sales totaled an estimated 2.53 million in the first quarter of the 2016 calendar year, down from an estimated 3.4 million in the year-ago quarter, according to market research firm TrendForce.

Apple's notebook market share dropped to an estimated 7.1-percent in the first quarter, down from 8.8-percent in the previous March quarter, as Windows-based PC vendors and the overall notebook industry continue to suffer from slowing sales.

TrendForce-MacBook-1Q16
Apple remained the sixth largest notebook vendor in the first quarter, trailing behind PC makers Lenovo, HP, Dell, ASUS, and Acer but ahead of Samsung and Toshiba. Mac notebook sales dropped 40-percent quarter-over-quarter, but largely due to expected seasonality following the holiday shopping season.

In the first quarter, Apple did not have any new MacBook products ready for the market, nor did it lower MacBook prices to generate sales. Apple’s Wintel-based competitors, on the other hand, benefitted from Windows 10 and the steady supply of Intel’s Skylake CPUs. They were able to have numerous new products ready to promote and ship. As a result, MacBook shipments suffered a massive quarterly decline of 40.4% in the first quarter and Apple retreated to the sixth place in the ranking.

Many prospective buyers are also hoping for a redesigned MacBook Pro featuring faster Skylake processors and Thunderbolt 3 with USB-C, which could be announced at WWDC next month. Apple released a Skylake-based 12-inch MacBook in April and started shipping the 13-inch MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM as standard.

Apple officially reported Mac sales of 4.03 million during the past quarter, including the iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Pro alongside notebooks.

TrendForce estimates worldwide notebook shipments totaled 35.62 million units during the quarter, marking a year-over-year decline of 7.3-percent.

Tag: TrendForce

Popular Stories

CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
Read Full Article • 76 comments
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
Read Full Article • 84 comments
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Read Full Article • 102 comments
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
Read Full Article • 91 comments
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
Read Full Article • 134 comments
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is less than two months away, and there are already a handful of new features that are expected with the update. Apple should release the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key...
Read Full Article • 35 comments
tvOS 18 Thumb 1

Apple Releases tvOS 18.4.1

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released tvOS 18.4.1, a minor update to the tvOS 18 operating system that came out last September. tvOS 18.4.1 comes two weeks after Apple released tvOS 18.4, and it is available for the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD models. tvOS 18.4.1 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌Apple TV‌. Open up Settings and go to System > Software Update to get the new software....
Read Full Article • 13 comments
iPhone Security Feature 25

Five iPhone Security Features You Should Be Using

Wednesday April 16, 2025 4:15 pm PDT by
Apple has quite a few security features that it's added to iPhones, iPads, and Macs over the years. Now more than ever, it's important to make sure you're taking advantage of the built-in security tools that are available to keep yourself and your data safe, so we've rounded up a list of the most important options. If you don't already have these enabled, you might want to consider turning...
Read Full Article • 70 comments
vision air cable

Images of Apple 'Vision Air' Power Cable Emerge Online

Thursday April 17, 2025 5:55 am PDT by
More images of a redesigned power cable allegedly for a future Apple "Vision Air" headset were today shared online by the prototype collector and leaker known as "Kosutami." Yesterday, the leaker explained that the Apple "Vision Air" will feature a thinner design and switch the battery enclosure and several of its internal structures to titanium to reduce the device's overall weight. Most of ...
Read Full Article • 95 comments

Top Rated Comments

Sandstorm Avatar
Sandstorm
117 months ago
Neglected, outdated and overpriced. Mini, pro, displays - are especially insulting.

EDIT - and before - but but Apple waits on Intel! - there are insane amount of things they could have done years ago - much better facetime cameras, drop the pathetic HDDs and switch to SSDs-only, drop non-retina displays, reduce display bezels, release a decent ergonomic mouse?
How about Touch-ID for the Mac? How about Thunderbolt displays that are not 5 years old with USB 2, crappy speakers, reflective and so on?

As it stands right now - Apple offers stale products with outdated internals, at an unbelievable (exorbitant) price. That is something only Apple can do.
Score: 90 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Santabean2000 Avatar
Santabean2000
117 months ago
Rotting fruit goes unsold. *surprise*
Score: 69 Votes (Like | Disagree)
smacrumon Avatar
smacrumon
117 months ago
Or, customers aren't upgrading or buying new MacBooks because their retail price point is way off the mark, incredibly too expensive.
Many "prospective buyers" wouldn't know exactly what was a "redesigned MacBook Pro" or a "Skylake processor", "Thunderbolt 3" or even "USB-C".
The price points are completely wrong.
Score: 68 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AndrewClarke Avatar
AndrewClarke
117 months ago
When Apple doesn't provide a MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, or Mac Pro worth buying, I'm sure it isn't a surprise to them that we're not buying them.

You'd have to be desperate to buy something from most of Apple's computer lineup right now. My 2011 MacBook Pro is limping along but I'll just keep reformatting/restoring rather than buy what they're selling at the moment.

Give me something I actually want to buy, Apple.
Score: 50 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Stella Avatar
Stella
117 months ago
$3000CA for the high end Macbook Pro 2015 - a total rip off. Looking at what you get for "PC" laptop at the same price range is an embarrassment for Apple!

Apple had better increase value for money in the next model...

Sadly, Apple are losing the edge with their computer range.. slimmer and eye candy hardware just doesn't cut it. There needs to be value for money. I'm not seeing it with the existing range.
Score: 46 Votes (Like | Disagree)
puma1552 Avatar
puma1552
117 months ago
Apple doesn't care about computers. They used to do major refreshes every 8 months with speed bumps every 4 months, now you're lucky to get one half-assed update a year.

Spare me the spiel about being chained to Intel's cycles, they could certainly update many other parts of the machine on a regular basis.
Score: 46 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments